Need help: slice my driver

[marvin]

Hi,

I'm finding it difficult to hit my driver properly. It's 8.5*, neutral face, 55 gram stiff stock shaft, standard length, 45". Half of my tee shot always slice to the right. Even when I hit it perfectly, it's probably just as far as my 3-wood shot. Is it because of the loft/weight/flex/length?

Btw, I have 3-wood and 5-wood standard stiff shaft and hit them fine. I hit my ProjectX 5.5 on my irons just fine. My old driver is 9.5 regular shaft and I just hit them okay.

[MikeRanaldo]

Hi,

I'm finding it difficult to hit my driver properly. It's 8.5*, neutral face, 55 gram stiff stock shaft, standard length, 45". Half of my tee shot always slice to the right. Even when I hit it perfectly, it's probably just as far as my 3-wood shot. Is it because of the loft/weight/flex/length?

Btw, I have 3-wood and 5-wood standard stiff shaft and hit them fine. I hit my ProjectX 5.5 on my irons just fine. My old driver is 9.5 regular shaft and I just hit them okay.

i might recommend upping the loft to 9.5 or 10, it'll put less sidespin on the ball. you might also be coming outside-in on your downswing, putting the spin for a slice on the ball, or you might not be squaring the clubface up at impact since you said that even when you hit it good it goes right. is it a bad slice? or just a fade. good luck. hope this helps

[marvin]

i might recommend upping the loft to 9.5 or 10, it'll put less sidespin on the ball. you might also be coming outside-in on your downswing, putting the spin for a slice on the ball, or you might not be squaring the clubface up at impact since you said that even when you hit it good it goes right. is it a bad slice? or just a fade. good luck. hope this helps

Thanks for your prompt reply.

When I hit it good, it goes straight, but just as far as my 3-wood.

When I hit it bad, it goes left. Yes, it's a BAD slice, not just a fade.

[MikeRanaldo]

going left for a righty is a hook, not a slice. now i'm confused lol

[Ernest Jones]

8.5 is not very much loft. Most players fair far better with something around 10.5 or even higher. More loft will "probably" give you more distance and will help a "bit" with the slice (or hook, I'm confused too) but ultimately you may wanna go see a pro and/or post some driver swings in your my swing thread.

[marvin]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

When I hit it good, it goes straight, but just as far as my 3-wood.

When I hit it bad, it goes left. Yes, it's a BAD slice, not just a fade.

going left for a righty is a hook, not a slice. now i'm confused lol

Sorry, my mistake. I'm righty. My mishit goes RIGHT, not left.

8.5 is not very much loft. Most players fair far better with something around 10.5 or even higher. More loft will "probably" give you more distance and will help a "bit" with the slice (or hook, I'm confused too) but ultimately you may wanna go see a pro and/or post some driver swings in your my swing thread.

Sorry for the confusion.

Assuming that you have the same swing speed/technique/etc., what is the difference in hitting 8.5/9.5/10.5 driver? Does it affect distance and ball flight significantly?

[Ernest Jones]

Assuming that you have the same swing speed/technique/etc., what is the difference in hitting 8.5/9.5/10.5 driver? Does it affect distance and ball flight significantly?

I'm no expert but as I understand it, an 8.5 driver requires a crapload of club head speed to get it airborne enough to create distance, if you don't have that speed it will take off low and come down too early.

As a 27 capper I highly doubt you have the speed and technique to benefit from such a low lofted driver. I would stick to your 3W and shop around for a driver with more loft, ideally one you can get fit for.

[Hardballs]

He's right, I used to struggle with drivers, then I got a 12* loft, cut shorter to 44.25, and wow, I can drive better than most my pals now whereas I used to be the worst! 8.5* loft?? Is that not a putter???

[EverythingGolf]

You slice the ball because the face is open to your path, the most common slice is the OTT (over the top) swing. If the ball is starting relatively straight then curving to the right the path is the problem.

Read this thread --> http://thesandtrap.com/t/58339/how-did-you-fix-your-slice

[vangator]

I play a 9.5* and hit it plenty high. When I hit a fade, it goes very high. My first guess is you're teeing it too low. I tee my ball very high. Slightly more than half the ball is above my driver's crown. I have never popped a drive up when sober. :)

[Hardballs]

Yeah, You probably just need a new shaft and a new swing! Hope this helps

[ajwk1967]

The lower the loft the more side spin you create. The stiffer shaft will likely send the ball right if you don't have the swing speed to match the shaft. So to minimise these factors then a regular shafted driver with a higher loft something in the 10 to 12 range would help. I hit an R11 reg shaft set to 11.5 deg and swing my driver at around 95 mph. Unless you consistently swing over 100 mph with the driver I would think you would be a better golfer with reg shafts

Your equipment is not going to change your swing but it can minimise the effects of some swing faults.

According to the head pro at my club most of the amateurs he sees swing outside to in and are therefore prone to slicing the ball.

Like everything it is a question of time and money

How much do you want to spend on equipment and lessons and how many hours do you want to practice?

[saevel25]

Sorry for the confusion.

Assuming that you have the same swing speed/technique/etc., what is the difference in hitting 8.5/9.5/10.5 driver? Does it affect distance and ball flight significantly?

Slightly higher ball flight and more backspin. For slower swing speeds this means more carry. Optimally you would want higher launch lower spin. But adding loft adds spin. Only a few drivers now really offer high enough lofts with built in weighting to take the spin off to counter that.

I would find a driver at least at 10.5 degrees of loft. I would go get some lessons as well to improve your swing.

I'm no expert but as I understand it, an 8.5 driver requires a crapload of club head speed to get it airborne enough to create distance, if you don't have that speed it will take off low and come down too early.

As a 27 capper I highly doubt you have the speed and technique to benefit from such a low lofted driver. I would stick to your 3W and shop around for a driver with more loft, ideally one you can get fit for.

Yes, anything bellow 10.5 degrees of loft you really need to keep the clubhead speed up because the lower loft produces too little spin. Given drivers are changing so that they spin less on higher loft, but most people hit the driver with a downward strike, and have too little loft on the driver.

The lower the loft the more side spin you create. The stiffer shaft will likely send the ball right if you don't have the swing speed to match the shaft. So to minimise these factors then a regular shafted driver with a higher loft something in the 10 to 12 range would help. I hit an R11 reg shaft set to 11.5 deg and swing my driver at around 95 mph. Unless you consistently swing over 100 mph with the driver I would think you would be a better golfer with reg shafts

Your equipment is not going to change your swing but it can minimise the effects of some swing faults.

According to the head pro at my club most of the amateurs he sees swing outside to in and are therefore prone to slicing the ball.

Like everything it is a question of time and money

How much do you want to spend on equipment and lessons and how many hours do you want to practice?

Note there is no such thing as side spin. That is only a vector component derived by math. A golf ball only spins on one axis, and it's able to tilt more on a driver due to lower loft. Stiffer shafts don't matter much, and the dispersion can vary depending on the golfer. For me, anything that is not X-stiff and heavy and the ball will miss both right and left because I am trying to time up the strike due to how the club head load. Going to an x-stiff does not cause me to hit it more right. I can hit an X-stiff just as bad right and just as bad left.

[marvin]

The lower the loft the more side spin you create. The stiffer shaft will likely send the ball right if you don't have the swing speed to match the shaft. So to minimise these factors then a regular shafted driver with a higher loft something in the 10 to 12 range would help. I hit an R11 reg shaft set to 11.5 deg and swing my driver at around 95 mph. Unless you consistently swing over 100 mph with the driver I would think you would be a better golfer with reg shafts

Your equipment is not going to change your swing but it can minimise the effects of some swing faults.

According to the head pro at my club most of the amateurs he sees swing outside to in and are therefore prone to slicing the ball.

Like everything it is a question of time and money

How much do you want to spend on equipment and lessons and how many hours do you want to practice?

Slightly higher ball flight and more backspin. For slower swing speeds this means more carry. Optimally you would want higher launch lower spin. But adding loft adds spin. Only a few drivers now really offer high enough lofts with built in weighting to take the spin off to counter that.

I would find a driver at least at 10.5 degrees of loft. I would go get some lessons as well to improve your swing.

Thanks for your lavish explanation, guys. It cleared up my doubt and confusion.

It seems that I have to stick with 10* driver and regular shaft. I realised that with stiff shaft, I tend to try to overswing and hit the ball as fast/hard as I can, that result in losing balance and control. With regular shaft, I assume that I can swing with 75-85% of my power, but still have the balance and control, right?

[Jeffu]

I am slicing, but more worrisome is coming in so steep with my drive. The big spin causes my distance to vanish. I'm hitting my driver 50 yards short of where I used to I hit it. I don't know how to correct it.